POST OP REPORT

Well, as usual I am way behind on entering information into this blog. My surgery was on November 6, 2007. I have very little memory of the 4 day hospital stay. About all I remember is that one night (I don't know which night) they took my blood pressure and I remember the nurse saying it was 90/30 and it seemed almost immediately they were in my room with an X-ray machine taking pictures of my chest and then being hooked up for an EKG. I don't remember calling my son to tell him they were going to release me and I don't remember the 2 hour ride home. My son told me that I got home and slept for 14 hours. This all is very scary for me since this has never happened to me before following any of the numerous surgeries I have had in my 57 years. I will be asking my surgeon a lot of questions at the first follow appointment.

As for the surgery, I had relief of the numbness in my hand and arm when I was aware of what was going on (after I got home from the hospital). Very little other pain for the first two weeks, then the pain has reappeared in my neck, shoulder and upper arm. I tried to reduce the pain medication starting the third week of recovery and I am not going to be able to do that. I am posting this information at 4 AM since I can not sleep due to the pain.

I am wearing a soft cervical collar and have to wear a bone growth stimulator for 4 hours every day. I don't have any idea of how long I will have to wear the collar or use the stimulator. If I was told while in the hospital, that information went into the brain fog of memory loss.

It has been very difficult to not bend or twist. Also, I have a 10# weight limit, so I can't do much of anything. My son stayed with me for the first week I was home and took care of the trash, getting groceries, etc. He helped a lot but he would not cook meals, so I spent a lot of money on having him go out and bring back meals. I just didn't have the strength to stand and try to prepare a meal, plus my throat was hurting so much that I didn't really want to eat.

My son's girlfriend came over on the day before Thanksgiving and prepped for the Thanksgiving Dinner. She fixed a great Chicken Casserole for supper that night and prepared the entire meal for Thanksgiving by herself. I am sure that she was very nervous cooking in my kitchen with me just a few feet away. Thanksgiving Day was very enjoyable and I finally could eat a little solid food without it killing my throat (still had some problem swallowing). My son and his girlfriend stayed here till about 7 PM on Thanksgiving Day and then went home.

The days after Thanksgiving were going pretty well except for the sore throat that is still bothering me and the pain is increasing in my arm. It feels like someone threw a baseball and hit me in the shoulder and upper arm, but no bruising so the pain is on the inside. I go back to the neurosurgeon on Wednesday, November 28th for the first follow up appointment. Since I can not drive with the collar on, my son's girlfriend offered to take me to the appointment. She has that day off so she will not miss any work time to haul me back to Oklahoma City. I told her I would take her to the Olive Garden for lunch as payment for being my driver. She really likes the Olive Garden and we do not have on locally.

Well, I will sign off for now and hopefully I can get back with a follow up report after my doctor's appointment.

Myelogram/CT Results

Well I got the results from the Myelogram/CT on Wednesday. The neurosurgeon said that I have Chronic Degenerative Disc Disease, Spondylosis at C5-C6 & C6-C7 (which are vertebrae in the neck), and a central disc protrusion at C6-C7. Since all the other treatments available have failed, he suggested an Anterior Decompression and Spinal Fusion surgery. I am a little scared about this. They go in from an incision on the front of my neck and work on the vertebrae of my spine. He is going to use cadaver bone for the fusion. Since I have legs problems already, he will not harvest my own bone for the fusion. He said that the cadaver bone will not reject since it does not have any blood properties in it and it is easier to use since it is already pre-cut to fit the vertebrae.

After the surgery, I will have to be in the hospital for 1-2 days. They will fit me for a neck brace and show me how to use the bone growth stimulator. They said the bone growth stimulator will emit electrical signals to help the bone graft fuse to my vertebrae, which will take from 3-6 months. The surgeon said that the most likely causes of a graft/fusion failure are: more than one level to be fused, smoking, patient non-compliance with activity restrictions/or brace wear, using anti-inflammatory medications and malnutrition. I have two of the problems: more than one level to be fused and I currently smoke, but it looks like that will have to stop. I am going to try to cut back and stop on November 1st. In my mind, stopping smoking will be the hardest part of the whole process since I have smoked for over 40 years.

My son is not really happy about the time of the surgery. It will be on Tuesday, November 6th at 5:30 AM in Oklahoma City. That means we will have to leave here at 3 AM to be at the hospital on time. He is definitely not a morning person. But, I need him to be there just in case of any problems.

All of this will create a stressful holiday season since I will be in the recovery process through Thanksgiving and Christmas. My son and his girlfriend were planning on me cooking the Thanksgiving meal. Jokingly, I told my son that he might have to order Thanksgiving Dinner from one of the deli's. He said he couldn't believe I was saying that. I have always cooked big dinners for Holidays. But, I guess with getting older and in worse health he will have to learn that things can be done differently or he needs to send his girlfriend over and let me teach her how to do it. I guess I could be an instructor instead of the cook for at least one year.
Well I have rambled enough for now. I will report back after the surgery and let you know the results.

Till Later - Judy